Pokemon Special Hail Hoenn
by Lillystream
Summary: The third part to the Pokemon Special Hail Saga if it can even be called that :) Hailey's taken off somewhere unknown to train, leaving the others in a time of peace and uneasiness. When she returns, so does their troubles, as they always seemed so attracted to her. Will they be strong enough to face and conquer the challenges ahead? Or will they fall apart at the seams?
1. Prologue

A/N: Hey everybody! Hailey's back in the THIRD book of Pokemon Special Hail! Thank you all for your continued support and I hope you all continue to see this series through and look forward to the even better stories that will follow its completion!

Me: Welcome everyone! As always, I love you all you amazing creatures of beauty and epicosity! I do not own the Pokemon Franchise, however I do own my OC's and Hailey. Thank you for reading and I hope you like this new addition to the series as much as the ones in the past!

Prologue

"C'mon Pidge, one more Wing Attack! I want to see a few more accurate Thunder moves, Mami! Thunders, try to make your Quick attack in five or less seconds flat!"

Five months; it had been five months of vigorous, relentless training.

The blonde girl had found a new region far south from Johto a week away from the Whirl Islands. She guessed that was the reason behind no-one ever finding or inhabiting the undiscovered land. Nobody – and I mean, no-body! – wanted to piss off Lugia, if it could be prevented.

The girl was in her own form of heaven; there were hundreds of unknown and unseen pokemon that only she knew about! She brought no empty pokeballs, nor did she even want to capture them if she could. She had planned on telling no-one about this new region. She wouldn't divulge this grand scale secret discovery of hers to even a single soul; not even Professor Oak would ever hear of this information.

Instead, whenever she and her pokemon weren't training or spending time bonding together to become closer as a team, she spent her time researching the island and its mysterious pokemon inhabitants, or befriending them if she could.

"Bulba, I know you can Vine Whip faster than that! Lilly, try to uproot the Trunk and re-plant it with telekinesis! Parker, two more flights around the island!"

They had trained harder and with more ferocity than that of any normal trainer. However, in all of their minds, they still weren't good enough to return.

"Typhlo, try to shoot your Flamethrower twenty feet into the sky. Toge, try really hard to control that Metronome of yours; if we can do that, it would improve your strength and ability in battle by at least one-hundred-fifty percent!" The girl called out orders as she did pushup after pushup, training herself as well as them. "Flora, move the river faster by twenty-point-two miles per hour with Surf. Lyra, Extreme Speed around the island in two seconds!"

The serene, exotic new region consisted of two islands, one larger one and a smaller one – the one they were currently training on due to it being less inhabited than the larger one. Both had large forests and wide, sandy beaches. The larger one had a waterfall and caves, however, and by it was a large, soft, grassy clearing which was where the vagabond pokemon and their trainer had made their makeshift home.

"Fern, Will-o-Wisp in nine different directions – imagine yourself aiming at several different enemies. Red, try to lower the recoil of your Outrage!"

She didn't know when she would leave this wonderful place and go to Hoenn to meet with Gold and the others, but she knew it wouldn't be for a while.

(Gold's POV)

I flopped onto the seat of the banged up sofa in Sapph and Ruby's hideout. The two weren't there since they were scoping out information on where Emerald was. Crystal and Silver were trying to track down the Kanto Holders; Yellow was too, but she decided to go alone, since being the third wheel to the couple would be weird and awkward for the ponytailed girl and the aforementioned couple.

Onyx, the rest of the ex-Rockets, Matthias and Yoi were trying to see if they could find information on any secret Team Rocket attacks.

I was the only one with nothing to do. Sure; I could be trying to track down Hailey's location… but I didn't feel I should. She would come back in time when she was ready.

She decided to leave to train her Johto team and her Kanto team even though they were stronger than most of my – or anyone's – pokemon… No one knew where exactly she went nor did she tell us anything before she left.

I stopped to think for a second. Eight months; it was eight months ago when the blonde beauty decided to go and train in private. I was beginning to wonder if the girl would ever return to us. I understood why she left; she wanted to grow closer to her pokemon and make sure they were all strong enough; she and her pokemon.

But what I couldn't understand was why it was taking so Arceus-damned long! She had said a month or two; and I expected a little more than that, but this was getting ridiculous. I heaved a heavy sigh as I heard someone at the entrance of the cave leading to the hideout.

I got up lazily but stiffened with uncertainty and alarm the second I realized they weren't Ruby, Saph, Rald, or any of the others. I brought out one of my pokeballs containing Explotaro cautiously. The person hadn't moved inside yet; they just stood outside and shifted from foot to foot somewhat nervously.

I shot up and barked, "Who's there and what do you want?"

I heard an audible yelp in response as the figure fell backwards in surprise, landing right on their butt. I could now see the intruder was female, for that noise was way too cute to belong to any self respecting male, and the girl was wearing a skirt.

Rushing outside, the sunlight blinded me for a moment before I stared down at the girl in front of me. A huge typhoon of emotions slapped me in the face and strangled my heart, my throat, and my brain. The girl had long blonde hair tied on either side of her head and she had stormy blue-green eyes. A lithe Espeon and Jolteon stood on either side of her and growled and hissed at him. They stopped once they realized who I was. It was Lilly and Thunders, the two Eevee evolutions that belonged to the girl he loved. And that girl was sitting on the ground trying to regain her senses.

"Hailey," I whispered in glee, "you're back!"


	2. Chapter 1

Author's Note: Hey everyone! I know it's been a while but I'm finally here! Woo hoo! You're all awesome to keep reading and reviewing and all of that good stuff. I'm seriously sorry my dad is such a huge asshole – as he's being so right now – and he refuses to fix my computer. I have to upload this really quick, so sorry if this is really short. Hope you enjoy and tell me if you liked it!

Chapter 1

(Hailey's POV)

After wandering around Hoenn for two days, after the long, long flight back I stumbled upon a cave of sorts. Lilly and Thunders padded along silently next to me as I had travelled through the dense undergrowth and scalding climates of Hoenn. I could already tell this was just not my region. Once we found the cave, I got a weird sense from it. It had a large, dense curtain of vines, bracken, lichen, and leaves covering the entrance, though you could still see someone's feet or know of their presence from the inside.

I shifted uneasily and nervously from foot to foot, contemplating whether to just walk in or see if anyone or anything lived in there. Before I could even get the chance to make a decision, a voice from the inside barked, "Who's there and what do you want?"

I yelped in alarm and fell backwards landing on my butt. "Ouch!" I gasped quietly as I tried to regain my senses. Lilly and Thunders growled and hissed protectively on either side of me, but stopped suddenly.

"Hailey," I heard a somewhat teenage male sounding voice whisper from the entrance, "you're back!" I looked up to the voice and I saw it was Gold. The boy was pretty much exactly how I left him, lovingly quirky and stunningly attractive.

"Gold!" I beamed as I leapt up and into his arms. "I've missed you so much!"

"I've missed you too," he said, his eyes staring into mine, "all too much."

My heart fluttered a little at his words as he put his arms around my shoulders and quickly ushered me into the hideout.

"Nobody else is here right now – they're all out on missions – so that's why it's all quiet and empty inside," he quipped absentmindedly. "Here," he guided me into the larger room that seemed to have many functions. It looked like the main hall, common room, and bedroom all at once. It was large and had a high ceiling; the room itself consisting of giant plush pokemon, soft looking rugs, tents, sleeping bags, pillows and blankets. There was also some furniture scattered in one area to look like a living room. There were two couches, a few lounge chairs, beanbag chairs, a loveseat, a coffee table, and a TV set. "Sit on the couch while I go get you something to drink; do you like lemonade?"

"Yeah, lemonade is great."

He almost pranced as he walked back through the hallway and into another room that I presumed to be the kitchen.

Lilly jumped up next to me as I recalled Thunders. I distractedly stroked her soft, lavender pink fur when she curled up next to me and rested her head on my lap. "It's really been a while," I sighed quietly to myself under my breath. It seemed like forever since I last saw another human being; and Gold.

I heard the sound of glasses clanking and cabinets closing. After a few minutes the sound of footsteps approaching alerted me that Gold was finished in the kitchen. Looking up, I saw an enthused looking Gold holding out a cup filled to the brim with ice cold lemonade for me to take.

I grasped the cold glass into my hands and took a sip. It was delicious. "Thanks," I smiled at him.

He tried to pull a look of indifference, but his smile was too big and goofy and his eyes were much too bright. "Twas no problem," he replied in a nonchalant sounding voice, crossing his arms and leaning against the wall – the one that wasn't there. He toppled over and was sprawled out on the ground.

It took everything I had not to laugh at his antics and behavior; and the fact he was splayed out on the floor like a Torkoal on its back. I quickly set my drink down on the coffee table, shooed Lilly off my lap and helped the boy up from his funny-looking position on the ground.

Once he was standing again, all he said was, "I totally meant to do that." I shook my head at him slightly in amusement. We heard someone approaching the hideout and saw shadows coming closer and closer to the entrance.

Gold got up to see who it was. "Well, based on the lack of loud, relentless arguing, it's safe to say it's not Sapph or Ruby," Gold said as he walked across the distance of the large room.

I saw a girl with dark, midnight blue hair that was almost black tied into spiked pigtails and a boy with long red hair walk into the hideout. I stood up and beamed at the two. Both looked absolutely startled and surprised to see I was standing there in front of them. The girl rushed over, throwing her arms around me in a suffocating hug.

The boy raced over calmly – well, as calm as he could muster without looking frantic, I assumed – and made it a group hug; something that was completely unexpected coming from him.

"Hey Silver, hey Crystal," I greeted my cousin and his girlfriend.

"'Hey'?" Silver scoffed slightly, "That's it? No, 'sorry I've been gone for eight months without telling you guys anything about where I was, but I'm so happy to see you guys'? Just, 'hey'?"

We broke the hug and I bowed so low my pigtails pooled at the floor in front of me. Oh yeah; it had been eight months since I cut it. "I offer my most sincere apologies," I said, my voice practically oozing with sarcasm.

"As long as you're sorry," the boy replied, obviously noticing the sarcasm, but refusing to acknowledge it.

Suddenly a large boom was heard from outside. No-one reacted at all, whatsoever. Glancing at each of their unconcerned faces I asked slightly frantic, "Don't you think we should check that out?"

"Nah," Gold automatically responded out of habit. "It happens all the time."

Suddenly – just as suddenly as the boom – two loud voices could be distinctly heard right outside the entrance. "I told you to take the left! We would have been here yesterday and we would have been able to avoid that storm!"

"There was an Absol in that direction! Do yah really want to screw wit' what a Absol warns yah 'bout?"

"There they go again," Gold commented lightheartedly and Crystal and Silver groaned. I just blinked in confusion. I had obviously never met these people before. I'm pretty sure I would have remembered them if they acted like this.

A bow with what seemed like white hair, which I thought was a little strange – but whatever, a green headband-looking thing that seemed like he was about to go jazzercising somewhere, and scarlet eyes walked in with an irked look on his face; his face that seemed a little too perfect. No, I didn't like him; I meant that he looked as if he put a LOT of time and a LOT of effort into making sure he looked… well, perfect. You know, the kind of person who was vain and only cared about appearances; a decoration – albeit a walking one.

After him walked in a pretty girl with chestnut brown hair pulled into a sort of high spiky ponytail in the back and long bangs that seemed to frame her face. She had deep blue eyes that sparkled like jewels and she had… fangs…?

"Could it really have been that bad?" the headband wearing boy grumbled.

"Yeah!" the fanged girl scrunched up her nose in frustration. "It would've! Dat's screwin' wit' da ordah! Yah don't go screwin' wit' da ordah!"

I blinked stupidly at the pair in front of me. These two were… interesting to say the least. I mean; I could understand what she was saying, but that accent! It was so distracting! Well, I could only tell that this journey was about to be supplied with all kinds of shenanigans; probably good and bad by the looks and sound of them.

"Hey!" Gold barked at his juniors… and my seniors. Wow, I had forgotten that they were supposed to be better than me at this. And more mature; heh, guess it's too late for that. "Can't you stop your pathetic lovers' quarrel long enough to greet Loner?" Wow; long time since I've been called that.

Both stopped half way through their protests of it being called a "lovers' quarrel" as they registered that I was standing there and their eyes widened once they realized who I was supposed to be.

Both kind of got different looks on their faces; the girl grinned at me in what looked like delight to which I blushed slightly. The boy scrunched his brow and nose in thought and… what looked like disgust; hmm… how polite. I was slightly put off by his behavior; but not as much as I though him rude to have to act so outright and openly about whatever he thought about me.

The girl; who I assumed was Sapphire due to her, well, sapphire colored eyes; walked over to me with both her hands behind her back, sniffing the air around me occasionally. She looked at every part of me, as if analyzing me. I would have been really bothered by this and would have questioned what in the world she was doing if it weren't easy for me to tell she was someone who relied greatly on scent; probably a nature buff or something; and was only trying to commit mine to memory.

The boy; who I assumed was Ruby due to his deep crimson eyes; seemed slightly aghast and even more disgusted at my calmness towards the girl's actions.

After she figured she had enough of my scent to remember, she stood up tall and reached out a hand. "I'm Sapphire Birch, the second Dex Holder of Hoenn and ninth Dex Holder of 'em all."

I smiled happily and took her hand, shaking it and gripping it tightly – something I didn't see as rude or painful since she had quite the grip as well. "I'm Hailey, last Dex Holder of 'em all."

The boy now looked like he wanted absolutely nothing to do with me at all whatsoever; as in, never in his life. Sapphire shot him a sort of warning look before saying, "Oh yeah, an' this prick is Ruby."

For some reason, his name being said out loud, made something in the back of my mind prick in recognition and mystery. Something about his name bugged me at one point in my life, but I couldn't remember it. I knew it had something to do with something important… but what was it!?

On the outside, however; despite my inner conflict; I stared at him with a blank look. "A pleasure, I'm sure," I greeted dryly.

He hmphed ever so slightly and said, rather vainly, "For you, perhaps."

I shot him a glare before asking, in an upset tone, "What's your damage? I haven't done a thing to you that I know of; hell! I just met you! Literally; do you not remember? 'Cause it kind of just happened a few seconds ago."

He sighed like I was a stupid child and began to talk to me very slowly. "You're just like another Sapphire; a rambunctious tomboy with no sense of fashion, manners, or flare who probably only cares about battles and fighting. Oh, and not to mention, always getting filthy and dirty; yuck!"

The Johto Dex Holders looked just as pissed as I felt. "Now hold on and wait just a flipping second," I walked up to him and jabbed him in the chest with my pointer finger, "who are you to tell me what I'm like and how I behave? You don't know me and you have no right to act like you do! I've done and said nothing to you but you've found it rather convenient for yourself to make sour faces like you just bit into a sour poffin. So lay off and stop being a jerk, Senior Ruby." I layered the last two words with extra venom, courtesy of Hailey.

He glared pointed at me but said nothing.

"What?" I sneered in a taunting voice, "Can't handle the fact I'm right?" I grinned at him victoriously, knowing I had won. I turned back to Sapphire to spend more time with her; at least she was pleasant.

She seemed somewhat shocked at me telling off her partner, but she didn't look all that bothered by it. In fact… she looked proud of me for a lack of better terminology. However, the other three looked anxious and nervous.

Sapphire grinned at me sheepishly before asking, "Can I see your pokemon?" as she rocked up and down a bit on the hells and does of her shoes.

"Sure," I said nodding. I started walking toward the front of the cave and she followed close behind before I thought of something. "Hey," I asked her when we got farther away from the others, catching her attention.

"What is it?"

"I was just wondering, but how old are you?" I looked her over and she didn't seem that much older than me.

"Oh, I'm sixteen; same as Emerald, the last member of my team; and Ruby's seventeen."

I smiled at her, "No way! I'm sixteen!"

(Ruby's POV)

"What was that about, dude?" Gold's snappish sounding voice inquired.

I groaned before turning towards them and answering passively, "She seems like a vulgar creature is all; not at all refined."

He blinked blankly, his face vacant of emotion. "So… let me get this straight… just because of what you think she's like without getting to know her, you hate her now? Really?" he deadpanned.

"I don't, as you say, 'hate' her," I protested, "I simply don't wish for another Sapphire. One to worry about is more than enough."

Gold smirked, his face twisting into a smug, slightly perverted look that made me worry. "You don't have to worry so much about that."

"Oh?" I raised an eyebrow. "And why, Senior Gold, is that?"

His smirk deepened. "Because she's with me," he answered simply.

My face burned and I stuttered, "Wh-what on Earth do you mean by that?"

"I like her," he said slowly, as if speaking to a very young child, "and she likes me back. It's really not that complicated. You only have to worry about your own Sapphire, eh?"

I narrowed my eyes dangerously. "I'm afraid," I snarled, "that is no business of yours."

Crystal mumbled nervously in a quiet voice that she was going to go and start dinner as she skittered quickly into the kitchen. Silver gave her an approving and slightly jealous look at her choice of escape.

"Stop being such a snob!" Gold snapped. "You are not better than anyone else here! Stop treating people, especially your friends, like shit and at least make an effort to get along with everyone or else no one's gonna want to put up with your ginormous attitude! You're better than this; act like it!" He walked towards one of the rooms in Sapph's and my base. Silver just sighed and swept his hair out of his eyes.

(Sapphire's POV)

My eyes must have been round and sparkly as I took in the sight of the VERY well trained pokemon in front of me. A lot of them being pokemon I had already seen and some being owned by some of my seniors – however, each and every one of them were in top notch shape; the most carefully trained and groomed pokemon I had ever seen. Heck, they looked more taken care of than Ruby's team. Hopefully he'll never know that I thought that or he'd throw a hissy fit.

"Wow!" I breathed as I stroked the soft yet firm feathers of the Pidgeot; Pidge. I looked over towards Hailey who was fawning over Rono and Pilo. "How fast can she go?"

"Super fast!" she grinned, looking very proud of her pokemon; and she had every right to be. "Are these edible fruit," she asked me, turning our attention towards my Tropius, "or are they just for show?"

I was about to answer her before she said, "Really? So do other people and pokemon try to eat them? She doesn't let them? That makes sense."

I blinked a couple of times before saying, "Hailey, what're yah doin'? You're talkin' to yahself…"

She giggled and said, "I was talking to Pilo. Did the others forget to fax the memo again?" She continued at my confused look at her analogy, "I can speak to pokemon because I have the same; okay, sort of the same; powers as Yellow."

I grinned, "Oh yeah! I forgot 'bout that!"

She had taken out most of her pokemon save for the last few. She said she had a pokemon named Mami and one named Parker. Calling out the first one, I saw that it was an Ampharos. I smiled widely; I hadn't ever seen one of those in person before!

She called back all her other pokemon and simply said, "Parker's kind of a big boy, so we need a lot of room for him," when I gave her a confused look.

When the glowing light dispersed I screamed in utter fright. A-a-a-a-a-a-a "SALAMANCE!" I shrieked and fell to the ground. I crawled backwards, too frightened to tear my eyes from its piercing gaze.

The blonde girl looked very confused and the dragon pokemon glanced at me in what seemed like annoyance but turned lovingly to his trainer.

She rushed over to me in concern. "What's wrong Sapph? What happened?"

I pointed fearfully past her towards the giant beast. "When did that Salamance get here?

"Oh," she smiled – how could she smile at a time like this!? Did she not see the giant monster behind her? "That's just Parker. I told you he was a big boy, didn't I?"

Crystal rushed outside and saw the Salamance and ran over to me. I could barely register her words of comfort trying to coax me back into the cave; but I couldn't due to my state of shock and fear.

The three boys came running outside and stopped in the sight of the giant pokemon. Ruby wasn't afraid; no, he was pissed. He walked straight towards the blonde haired trainer who looked unsettled and confused. She was probably wondering why I reacted that way towards her pokemon – her friend and companion. I felt sort of bad reacting that way, but I really couldn't help it.

Although, I had to admit, even though he scared me to death, he had a glossy armor of steel hard scales that sparkled teal and silver in the sunlight with muscles that rippled under his leather flesh and he seemed to practically glow with good health. No matter how afraid I was of him, he was very well trained and taken great care of. Hailey must have been very proud of him and all of her other pokemon as well.

She must have thought that I… well; I really don't know what she thought. Probably wondering why I was horribly terrified of a pokemon she put grand effort, love, and affection into raising and training. I felt… slightly ashamed of my actions. Plus, it was most definitely not her fault; like she was supposed to know about my lifetime trauma of Salamances; that would be asking quite a lot of her. Like she said earlier; we just met today, so we shouldn't be acting as if we've known each other for a long time.

"What on EARTH do you THINK you're doing?" Ruby was raging and snarling at her.

"W-what do you mean?" she asked, taken aback. "What did I do?"

"Don't play stupid!" he barked.

"I'm not though… I really don't know what I did…" she said lightly, which was a huge contrast to how she was berating him earlier.

"Sapph was attacked by a Salamance when we were kids and she's completely terrified of them!" he scolded at her intensely as if she weren't even a person. Great Ruby, now I felt even worse.

A look of complete surprise and guilt formed on her face. She quickly turned away from Ruby to pat her pokemon on the head and whisper to him. He bobbed his gigantic head up and down in some sort of agreement. She called him back, which relieved me greatly, and walked towards me.

Ruby was about to protest before she kneeled down and hugged me. I registered her lightly stroking my hair to comfort me. "I'm sorry… I'm really sorry… I didn't know…"

I faintly reached my arms to return her embrace. "It's alright," I breathed, "like you said, you didn't know."

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Author's Note: Again; I'm really sorry about not being able to update in forever and my computer should be getting fixed next month; if what my mom says is true. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this chapter and I'd like to say you're all awesome and amazing!


	3. Chapter 2

Author's Note: Sooo… please don't kill me. If my parents keep their promise – which they probably won't – my computer should be fixed next month. Despite that; I'm getting out of school at the end of next week so chapters should be getting out faster and more frequently. So, thank you very much for all you awesome readers who've stuck with me through all of this. I hope you like this chapter and review (or don't; I ain't yo daddy).

I don't own pokemon at all; I only have my OC's and my waffles.

**Chapter 2**

(Hailey's POV)

We – Gold and I – were on our way to a town called Littleroot. There, we would get my Hoenn starter. I briefly considered my options as we walked away from the base. The others didn't want to come; they were either uncomfortable going; Crystal; against going in a large group and attracting attention; Silver; or still jostled and shaken up from yesterday; Ruby and Sapphire. I was considerably surprised when Sapphire hadn't wanted to come, since her father was the region's professor.

I knew more about Hoenn than most would think, with me being a self-educated orphan from tiny, middle-of-nowhere Pallet Town, Kanto and all. I had access, however, to all sorts of knowledge bases and research and information as one of Professor Oak's disciples. This was why I knew about much of the world's pokemon and other regions. Not as much as to be an expert or something, but enough.

Getting back to my starter options, I could have gone with the hardy Mudkip, the lithe Treeko, or the excitable Torchic. Decisions, Decisions.

When we finally reached the quaint, little town, we walked over to a large building that looked more like Professor Oak's lab. Elm's had been slightly strange – due to it having two floors and staircase entrance on the side of the building leading into the second floor – so it was a slight relief to find the building so quickly and see the similarity between this lab and the one from my home.

The relief was washed away with an onslaught of worry as I felt the faint pulsing aura of a sick pokemon. It was probably one of the new powers I had received from the Three Dogs. I rushed in ahead of Gold to see if I could do anything to save the owner of this aura. I heard Gold's surprised cry of, "Hailey!?" before charging in and dashing past a man in a white lab coat – definitely the professor – who looked shocked at my sudden entry. I dashed straight past him to where I could sense the sickness coming from. In a small basket filled with blankets was a Torchic who convulsed and writhed in pain.

I bent down beside him and felt his forehead. He was freezing! That was horrible news for a fire type pokemon, or anyone else for that matter. But it was probably worse for a fire type. I put my other hand on him as both began to glow a faint turquoise color.

I felt the pulsing aura strengthen and the heat flowing back into the chick pokemon's body with every second. I would have sighed in relief if I wasn't so concentrated on my self-appointed task at hand.

Birch – well, the man I presumed to be Birch – came rushing after me and stopped as he saw me near the Torchic. "Hey!" he snapped, but failed to get my attention or crack my concentration and focus. "That pokemon is deathly ill! Keep away from it!"

Gold walked in calmly and immediately focused on my glowing hands. "Please calm down, Professor," Gold ordered the frantic man calmly. "She's healing him. Look."

Removing my hands, which had stopped glowing, and stroking the bird's now warm orange feathers, he blinked at me in a silent thanks. He was abnormally calm for a Torchic nonetheless a fire type. He intrigued me.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-PSHH-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

(Torchic's POV)

This human girl… she intrigued me.

How strange it was to encounter a human with her abilities. Was she the one the Professor spoke of when he said a trainer was coming to choose one of them? I was certain, at the time, that I was the one who would be chosen over my two Neanderthal companions Mudkip and Treeko. Mudkip was just plain stupid, being utterly brainless and incapable of logic or reason. And Treeko, he just lacked common sense. He would commit the most heinous acts of shamelessness and preposterous defiance due to the most impractical purpose of escaping boredom. I, on the other talon, was intelligent, sophisticated, and educated; albeit self-educated.

Well, I was very sure until I caught a deathly virus that made my homeostasis lose its state of mind – if it had one, for I used personification – and made my usually moderate or warm temperature lower to tundra like temperature. I may be using a hyperbole, but to a Torchic it felt like there was a blizzard in my gizzard.

Suddenly, in the midst of my blinding and insufferable pain, came this glow of sunshine that was this girl. Who on this glorious Earth was she; one so fair and wise for such youth? If I was determined to be chosen before, I was doubly so now.

As she raised her hands that had ceased to glow, I stood up slowly, testing to see how much of my strength had returned to my system. She stroked my now warm feathers and looked at me with such kindness and relief in her eyes. Her irises were a beautiful color; a kind of blue-green that reminded one of the sea. That and the fact that they held a certain gray tint to them that made the sea seem like it was facing a stormy night; breathtaking.

The Professor seemed to be trying to scold her but could not bring himself to. This was due to either, a.) her sunny personality and happiness at healing my illness, b.) the fact she somehow was able to heal me in less than five minutes whereas he was unable to do so in the time span of two weeks, or c.) both.

"My word, madam, I am utterly grateful for your assistance. I offer you my complete gratitude," I said to her, bowing to her. I was very taken aback when she replied;

"It wasn't a problem and I'm glad to help. Really, I'm just happy you're back on your feet and feeling well again. You must have been really, really sick."

For a moment, I didn't know how to respond. Then, I realized, that she could have deducted my gratitude from bowing; which I had done in hopes to show my thankfulness. So, as a result, I brushed off any sort of strangeness from the situation.

She patted my head once more before turning back to the professor. "This little guy's all better now, Professor. You won't have to worry about him anymore anyways; he's coming with me. He's an interesting little fella, ain'tcha?" She turned to me and winked. I gave her a confused look in response. I didn't comprehend anything other than that I was now her Hoenn starter. "You talk funny; I can understand everything you're saying because I have a highly extent vocabulary; but it's odd to hear anyone – nonetheless a pokemon – talking like that."

I blinked a few times, dumbfounded. "You could hear me? Wait; never mind that, you know what I'm saying?"

She smiled gently and said; "Yeah; I can talk to pokemon. I understand every word you're saying. So, what do you say? You feel like coming with me?"

I grinned in interest; this would be… fun. I had no real reason to ever use that word before; but I now saw meaning in the word. "It would be my pleasure. You're name is Hailey, correct? You interest me."

"And you amuse me," she said winking.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-PSHH-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

(Hailey's POV)

Gold and I arrived back with Tokoro – my newly named Torchic – relatively late, since we had stopped to chat with the professor for a few hours. Tokoro was telling me about how he was able to study and understand human language.

"I learned it on my own," he was saying. "It was rather difficult, if I do say so myself. So many symbols and letters! But I was able to conquer that, eventually. It does, however, greatly intrigue me that you have a pokemon with this same ability!"

"Mmhmm," I agreed. "Flora, the Furret, knew how from before I even met her. I was pretty amazed that she was able to do that."

"Yes," the bird pokemon bobbed his head, "it is quite a difficult language. I'm highly impressed she was able to learn as well. Are any of your other pokemon highly intelligent?"

I laughed slightly. "Well, Pidge is pretty smart, Mewtwo is pretty brilliant – though lacking in common sense, and Lilly and Mami are intelligent to say the least."

Tokoro sighed in relief. "That's a delight to hear; after so many years being stuck with Mudkip and Treeko, I never want to return to nothing but simpletons."

Gold walked on ahead and kept eyeing me with interest whenever he thought I wasn't looking. He was so cute. Tokoro looked at me in confusion for a moment before a look of realization crossed his sharp, avian features.

"Ah, I see. An epiphany if I've ever had one; you like this boy, do you not?"

My face flushed. "W-w-what? O-of course not! What are you t-talking about?" Oh no! I was stuttering! Just great; way to go, me!

"Ha ha!" the bird pokemon chuckled. "How quaint! To blush over such a harmless statement! Do not worry, my trainer, for I can tell the human male of your choice is interested in pursuing you as well. Why are you two not courting?"

"C-courting?" I whispered, very startled. I didn't want Gold to hear. "What's that supposed to mean!?"

"In simpler terms," he corrected, "why are you two not 'dating' yet? If you feel such things for him and he is obviously attracted to your beauty and intellect, whatever could be stopping you?" After looking at my scarlet face, he said, "And yet another epiphany! You are the ones stopping yourselves! You are in your own way! I see, I see. No worries, I will try to assist you in any possible way I can, but I will keep my tail feathers out of where they have no place being."

I was suddenly very interested in my shoes and the ground and, well everywhere but Tokoro and Gold. I didn't "like him" like him, did I? Not able to find my answer at the moment, I went on in silence, wondering how far from the hideout we were. Finally, we managed to reach the stone cave and we ducked inside. "We're back!" Gold called out. Sapphire's head popped out from one of the doorways.

"Hey guys!" she welcomed as she made her way over to us. "How'd it go? How's Papa?"

"The professor's fine. He's overly stressed out as he always is, but fine," Gold replied. "How's the base holding up? Ruby try to sew curtains on the windows that don't exist? Silver get Crystal pregnant yet?"

Sapphire and I both gasped in shock he would say that. Her face got red at the mention of "pregnant". My face flushed red as well but also held embarrassment about hearing that sort of teasing of my cousin and his girlfriend. "Gold!" I gasped.

"W-what?" he asked defensively. "I was kidding! You know I was kidding, right?"

"What the hell is going on?" Silver's voice came from the hall. "And Gold, what the hell do you mean by that? Do you really think I would have gotten her pregnant after dating for only nine months?"

"Psh," Gold snickered. "That's all it would take, my friend." This got him an abrupt punch to the skull. Crystal had come in the room and kicked him in the gut as well.

Tokoro looked very unpleased. "These humans are utter fools. Look at their insignificant folly! What children they are! Do they not realize there is a world to save? Alright, I'll admit that is a bit over the top. Pardon me; there are Dex Holders to save! Their companions and allies!"

"Well," I said, trying to ignore Silver and Gold wrestling on the ground with Crystal and Sapphire watching in amusement and slight annoyance from Crystal, "I suppose the world could be put in danger depending on the direction Team Rocket take."

"Yes," he replied, "this is very true. I suppose the next main thing we should be trying to do is figure out their plans and purposes; their wants and desires; their aims and their goals."

"Alrighty then," I said and turned to the others. "Everybody calm down!" I raised my voice, interrupting whatever argument Silver and Gold were shouting at each other. "This," I turned to the Torchic behind me, "is Tokoro."

Sapphire came up and stroked his feathers. "So you chose a Torchic?" she commented, smiling. "My starter was one too. He's a big and powerful Blaziken now!"

"Chaka," I said, hoping the name was correct, "… right?"

"Yeah," she smiled.

I looked towards Gold and Silver who were glaring at each other from the corners of their eyes. "So, do you know where we're heading first?" I asked.

"Oh," Crystal pulled what looked like a small planner out of her pocket. "We're heading to Sootopolis first…" she said after a second of checking through the small notebook. "That's where the Headquarters for Hoenn is. Winona and Wallace-"

"Coach!"

"Master!" Ruby and Sapphire both called out respectively.

"Y-yes…" Crystal continued, sighing politely. "That's where those two are going to be."

I tilted my head to the side confusedly. "Who are they?"

"W-WHAT!?" Ruby and Sapphire gasped. "How could you not know who they are?" Ruby demanded. "Well, at least Master!"

"Hey!" Sapphire growled slightly, but was slightly ignored in the situation.

I gave him a narrowed glare and said, "I've never been to Hoenn. The only things I know about this place are the pokemon."

"Well," Ruby snapped, "Wallace – my master," he said once again, making me wonder if he was a slave or something, "is a world famous pokemon coordinator who specializes in utter and spectacular beauty and elegance!"

Oh! That guy! Suddenly, a memory came back to me. "…Ruby has a love for all things with beauty, which is pretty strange considering that he's a boy. Sapph thinks that's a little weird… oh, never mind. She thinks it's the weirdest thing ever!"

"And Winona – my coach," Sapphire began, but I couldn't hear her.

My mind whirled in a rush to a scene of me on a boat with my older half-sister, Yellow. It was the beginning of my Johto journey and we had been on our way to Twinleaf Town. That seemed like forever ago, yet like it was just yesterday at the same time. I had asked my sister to tell me about the other Dex Holders and my mind had reeled when she told me about Ruby.

… And my mother would only ever tell me… My mind whirled again. I tried my hardest to remember all the stories and details my mother had ever told me about our family. I took a second to think. I remembered that we had lived alone, and mother told me that my father had to leave before I was born. She told me not to be bitter about this, but I hadn't even known what that meant back then.

She had never told anyone much about her husband – I remembered that much – but she would always tell me stories about him.

She would say that my father was a leader... but Ruby didn't say leader; he said coordinator. However, mother had also said that he had a love for beautiful things; very much like Ruby. If only my mother gave me a flipping name! But, no matter how many times I asked her, she wouldn't tell me who he was. "He moved on," she would tell me in a caring and disarming voice, "but to protect us. You will meet him one day, if it is meant to be."

I hadn't realized I had fallen to my knees and was grabbing my temples in attempt to dull the sharp pain shooting across my consciousness. Silver was beside me, his arm wrapped protectively over my shoulders. "Whoa there, Loner…" he whispered to me, looking completely unsure of what to do.

"I-I'm fine…" I croaked out, my voice cracking and wavering. The pain had begun to dull ever so slightly and I was able to stand again with Silver's help. Silver let me rest my weight on his shoulder and he began to lead me to my room. "I said I was fine!"

"No!" he and Gold snapped at the same time, making me flinch. "Sorry," Silver said, sounding truly apologetic, "but you've gotta get some rest."

He led me into my room and away from the others. When they were out of earshot he said, "That… and we need to talk about some things."


	4. Chapter 3

Author's Note: Hey guys! Sorry for the wait, but – again – my computer's still busted. Yup. I'm comin' to ya from my parent's laptop once again. I'm so super-duper sorry about this and I'm sorry that this chapter is gonna be pretty short compared to others. I'll try to make the next one longer. Until then, bless your lovely faces and if you sneeze at some point while reading this chapter, god bless you, you majestic creature. Constructive criticism and reviews are always welcomed and given hugs! But remember, flames will burn you; kill them with fire. Thank you and have a fabulous day!

Disclaimer: I don't own pokemon or I'd be so flipping rich I'd own fanfiction. I also don't own Toby Turner or that'd be kidnapping. Or Tobynapping. Either way, please enjoy!

Chapter 3

(Gold's POV)

"What the hell was that all about?" Ruby growled slightly. "What's the matter with her?"

"Hey!" I snapped. "I'm getting sick of your attitude, alright? Cut it out and knock it off. Stop being an asshole, okay?"

Before Ruby could retaliate, Sapphire cut in. "What the heck happened? Is Hailey gonna be okay, Senior Gold?"

I sighed and scratched the back of my neck nervously, "To tell you the truth, I don't really know… I think Silver might, but I couldn't tell you. To be perfectly honest, I'm really worried about her." At my juniors' confused expressions, I continued. "You see," I sighed, "she randomly gets these dizzy spells and gets lightheaded sometimes. I really don't get it, but she doesn't seem to know either."

"That," Ruby snorted, "or she's keeping a secret or two up her sleeve."

"And," I snarled, "what exactly is that supposed to mean, Ruby?"

"Oh, nothing," Ruby sneered, "other than she's pretty suspicious, if you ask me."

Sapphire rolled her eyes. "Yeah? Well it's just too bad none of us asked."

Crystal waved me over and we walked away from the Hoenn Holders and into the kitchen. "What's up?" I asked my friend.

"I really want to know what's up with Hailey. She and Silver both get like this – Silver more so in the past – but Hailey's been really acting up lately. What do you think causes it to happen?"

"I don't really know…" I thought it over. "It happened just after Ruby started talking about Wallace."

"Hmm," she murmured. "I wonder why that is…"

"Didn't Silver get like this when Hailey was getting closer to Saffron?"

"Yeah, he did. And when you guys were coming to Mahogany Town too."

"Oh yeah," I remembered. "She got weird that time too."

Crystal sighed in exasperation. "There is no way to understand that girl!"

"Amen, sister," I laughed. "Amen."

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-PSH-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

(Hailey's POV)

"That and we need to talk about some things…"

"Like what?" I asked as my cousin shut the door to the room we were in. "Did you find out about the dead bodies? I swear I tried to not let things get out of hands, but-"

"Hailey," he interrupted, "do us all a favor and stop while you can."

"Fine," I relented. "But, seriously, what's up?"

"That."

"Oh yeah, so very specific," I rolled my eyes sarcastically. "I didn't get mind reading powers with all that other stuff. I'm not that amazing."

"What's with what happened just now?" he asked, ignoring my sarcasm.

"Nothing is more discouraging than unappreciated sarcasm."

"Stop joking around, Hailey. This is happening all the time now and I'm trying to find out the reasons behind it. I just need you to help me."

I sighed and started counting off with my fingers, "First, you have to be able to understand when someone is joking. Two, you need to be able to laugh about it. Three-"

He facepalmed and said, "You know what I'm talking about."

"Fine, fine. I can honestly say I have no idea what happens with me sometimes. Okay? You don't know, I don't know. I was just having a bunch of flashbacks; I was pretty unaware of what was happening on the surface."

"Flashbacks? Flashbacks about what?"

"My mom… and whatever I remembered her saying about my dad."

He chuckled. "Us and our family problems, I swear. Will we ever have all our answers?"

"Nope," I said with a straight face. "Never. That will never, ever happen. Nothing would be interesting if we did and I'm not ready to live a boring life yet. I don't know about you, but no thanks."

"Just be careful, okay?" he shook his head, his long red hair swaying with his movements.

I leapt forward and grabbed two fistfuls of his hair. "CUT IT!" I screamed.

"WHAT THE HECK IS WRONG WITH YOU!?" he shouted in surprise and tried to push me off.

"YOU NEED A HAIRCUT! THIS IS UTTERLY RIDICULOUS? HOW LONG TO YOU PLAN ON GROWING THIS? IT'S BEEN LIKE THIS SINCE YOU WERE TWO! GET A NEW HAIRSTYLE FOR ARCEUS' SAKE!"

"NO!"

After ten minutes of wrestling I let go of him and rolled over, panting at the effort it had taken to get the boy to agree to get a haircut.

"You are so complicated!" I huffed in annoyance.

"Like you have any right to talk," he grumbled in response.

I let out Flora who curled around my neck as I walked out of the room. "What's the matter?" she asked in concern.

"Ah? That? Nothing really; I was just trying to get Silver to get a haircut. I'm thinking we should head out tomorrow. What do you think?"

"That sounds like a good idea," she agreed. "Are we going by ourselves?"

I sighed, my heart feeling heavy and unsure. "I don't really know," I said. "We've been alone – with each other sure – for eight months. But I don't really want to be with anyone right now other than my pokemon. Why do I always have to be so conflicting?"

She giggled slightly. "You're just going through a rough patch. Don't let it bother you. Plus, if you did want to go by yourself, you heard them; everyone's going to the same place. We'd all meet up eventually."

"That's true… I just think that they wouldn't be very happy with me if I left."

I walked outside and the breeze lifted my blonde curls and caused her long tail to sway. "Then let's go now."

"What?" I asked and turned to look at her. "Are you saying we should go without telling anyone?"

"Why not?" she smiled. "We've never been much for big groups anyway."

Pidge popped out of her pokeball followed by everyone else. "Are you saying to leave poor Gold by himself again? The boy's been waiting for eight months already and now that they're reunited, they're to separate again?"

"I'll agree that's very unreasonable," Lilly said, standing next to the Pidgeot.

"Forget about the kid," Parker grumbled. "He's not worth bringing or waiting for. We have a mission to fulfill, if you haven't forgotten."

Their inputs only made my head spin in confusion. "Guys, guys! I don't know what to do and you're not helping and, and…!" I knew I was about to start balling. I didn't know why I was so confused. Why was I so torn between leaving Gold and bringing him with me? GAHH IT WA SO CONFUSING!


End file.
